Lil' Troy

Troy Lane Birklett (born February 24, 1966),^[1][2] known professionally as Lil' Troy, is an American rapper and songwriter.

Lil' Troy
Birth name	Troy Lane Birklett
Born	(1966-02-24) February 24, 1966 (age 59) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Hip Hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter truck driver
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Short Stop E1 Universal Republic

Early life

Birklett was born in Houston and grew up there.

Career

Early career

In 1987, Troy Birklett founded Short Stop and joined the group Mass 187 in 1987. Mass 187's song "Gangsta Strut" was featured on local radio.^[3] He was arrested in November 1999 and sent to a federal detention center in Beaumont, Texas west of Orange. He was there nine months.^[4][5]

Wanna Be a Baller and later career

In the late 1990s, Lil' Troy featured many of Houston's rappers in his songs. He reached national audiences with his single "Wanna Be a Baller".^[6] The song reached No. 70^[1] on the Billboard Hot 100, and propelled Sittin' Fat Down South, his debut album on his Shortstop/Me & Mine Entertainment label, to the Top 25 albums on the Billboard 200. After the success of the lead single, Lil' Troy was picked up by Universal Music Group, which re-released his debut album in 1999 with national distribution. The debut album was a success; it was certified Platinum by the RIAA selling 1.9 million copies in the US.^[4][7] Lil' Troy released a follow up in 2001, titled Back to Ballin. The album did not have a charting single and did not fare nearly as well as his debut. He released his third album, Paperwork, in 2006.

Lil' Troy later became a truck driver, forming Birklett Trucking Company in Missouri City, Texas west of Pearland.^[8]

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions[9]			Certifications
		US	US R&B	US Ind
1998	Sittin' Fat Down South Released: June 23, 1998 Labels: Republic/Universal/Short Stop	20	6	–	US: Platinum[10]
2001	Back to Ballin Released: September 11, 2001 Label: Koch/Short Stop/Me & Mine Entertainment	95	24	4
2006	Paperwork Released: February 14, 2006 Label: Short Stop/101	–	–	–

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions			Album
		US	US R&B	US Rap
1998	"Small Time"	–	–	–	Sittin' Fat Down South
1999	"Wanna Be a Baller" (featuring Fat Pat, Yungstar, Lil' Will, and H.A.W.K.)	70	40	31
	"Where's the Love" (feat. Willie D & Ardis)	–	–	–
2001	"We Gon' Lean"	—	—	—	Back to Ballin
	"Back to Ballin"	–	–	–